Gwangju-style Cultural ODA 'Asia Culture Expedition' Successfully Concluded

6 City Youth Artists Experiment with Culture and Urban Regeneration
Voluntary Participation from Overseas Cities... Interest in Applying to Their Own Countries

‘2024 Asia Intercity Cultural Exchange Cooperation Project - Asia Culture Expedition’ features over 60 young artists from six domestic and international cities gathering together for a commemorative photo.
[Photo by Gwangju City]

Gwangju City's 2024 Asia Intercity Cultural Exchange Official Development Assistance (ODA) project, 'Asia Culture Expedition,' has concluded its grand journey amid enthusiastic responses from participating cities. This year's 'Asia Culture Expedition' garnered high interest and positive feedback from overseas participating cities, signaling sustainability through the expansion of cultural and educational exchanges.

The '2024 Asia Intercity Cultural Exchange Cooperation Project ? Asia Culture Expedition,' involving over 60 young artists from six Asian cities including Gwangju (Korea), Nanyang (China), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Jakarta (Indonesia), Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), and Changhua (Taiwan), took place across Gwangju from the 4th to the 11th of this year. This year's Asia Culture Expedition featured various cultural exchanges and urban regeneration experiments such as tours of Gwangju's cultural regeneration spaces, an international seminar on cultural regeneration cooperation, a public art project based in Jisan 2-dong, and the 'DosiRak Festival & Citizen Report.'

The six overseas participating cities are expanding exchanges beyond culture into other fields such as education. Nanyang Normal University in China, which was the local site for last year's public art project, visited Gwangju University this year to discuss academic and educational cooperation. Other participating cities, including Chiang Mai in Thailand, also expressed intentions to pursue continuous exchanges between universities. Interest is growing in cities like Jakarta and Changhua to apply Gwangju's urban regeneration experiences in their own countries, and voluntary participation by young artists from each country is increasing.

Kim Seong-bae, Director of Culture and Sports at Gwangju City, said, “Through this year's Asia Culture Expedition project, we hope to add vitality to the urban landscape and leave behind new creations of cooperation mediated by cultural diversity,” adding, “We hope this project becomes a strong link connecting each country closely.”